Drilling and mining for fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas and coal are dangerous activities having a high risk of fire and explosion. According to the Centers for Disease Control, between 2003 and 2013, the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry (onshore and offshore, combined) had a collective fatality rate seven times higher than for all U.S. workers (27.1 versus 3.8 deaths per 100,000 workers). Thirteen percent of those deaths were the result of explosions and/or fires, and another thirteen percent were the result of exposure to harmful chemicals or environments.
As a rig drills a well, a pipe is extended into the earth by sections. One of the most dangerous roles for a worker on a drilling rig is the role of derrick hand. The derrick is the platform above the drill site, and it is often more than 50 feet above the floor of the drilling rig. The derrick is used as a station for the derrick hand to position and attach additional drill pipe sections as the pipe drills deeper in the well. The derrick hand controls the pipe sections as they are attached. The derrick hand also monitors the drill, drill fluids and drilling fluid (drilling mud) circulation cooling systems.
In the event that the drill enters a pressurized zone, pocket and/or area of the well, the risk of a blowout increases, and the well becomes an explosion hazard. Rigs are required by regulation to equip the wellhead with blowout preventers that can contain a blowout, an explosion and/or a fire. These systems are typically operated by a control panel on the drilling rig. Depending on the reaction time of workers in activating the blowout preventer, there can be a delay of several seconds before the blowout preventer closes off the well and extinguishes a fire or explosion. In the event of an emergency, there is no automated system to protect a derrick hand.
Temperatures above a derrick explosion can reach above 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit very quickly, so every second is critical to the survival of a derrick hand trapped above a well explosion. An added concern to the extreme heat is the smoke and chemicals created by the explosion, which billow up and surround the derrick and may suffocate the derrick hand. These time constraints are coupled with the confusion created by an explosion and the temporary shock that the explosion may induce in a derrick hand.
Current methods provided for the derrick hand to escape from the derrick are difficult to conduct, even under optimal, non-emergency conditions. For example, one commonly-accepted escape device is made by Geronimo, which is essentially a manually-controlled zip line leading off of the derrick. Unfortunately, if the device is not used precisely, the user can be killed during the escape.
Moreover, there is a need in the art for a device and/or method that will protect a derrick hand and/or aid his escape in an emergency situation. More specifically, there is a need for a device that will protect the derrick hand from fire, intense heat and/or smoke and that will provide temporary protection to a worker so that the worker can escape an explosion, fire or chemical accident. Further, what is needed is a temporary way to control, reduce and/or remove the heat around a worker during an explosion and to limit the fumes, chemicals and smoke that accumulate around the derrick hand in a fire, explosion, or chemical exposure.